Fife Opera House - Palestine, IL
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 39° 00.120 W 087° 36.778
16S E 446923 N 4317177
Hardware store below, Opera House above. Mr. Fife provided a lot at the in early 20th Century.
Waymark Code: WMZG32
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 11/06/2018
Views: 1
County of site: Crawford County
Location of site: 123--125 S. Main St. , Palestine
"A recently restored, early 1900s opera house located Illinois’ oldest town. The Fife is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Following extensive renovations, the Fife theatre reopened in December 2014. Construction of the David Fife Opera House at 123 S Main St. Palestine, IL began in 1898 and was completed in 1901. David Fife operated a hardware store on the ground floor. The opera house operated during the historic oil boom in Crawford County, IL. The Fife was the venue for band concerts, minstrel shows, stock traveling shows, comedies, a lyceum series, and more until its closing in 1912. Exceptional pieces of the scenery used in the original theater have survived. In the auditorium is a canvas fire curtain depicting a Venice canal scene. It was hand painted by artists from the Chicago company of Sosman and Landes. The curtain was repaired in November and placed back in its original position above the stage. Side and top panels depict beautiful draperies surrounding a peaceful, tree-lined river. Recently, additional painted scenes were discovered including gardens, waterfalls, and a turn of the century street scene." ~ Event Crazy
"The Fife is open again—after 102 years! The first show featured Teri Obst and
Bob King with the Kingpin band on Dec. 27. Teri sang a variety of blues with
some featured spots with friends Joli Finkbiner and Barb Shimer and her sister.
Bob King started the show with a variety of his favorite music. Not only did we sell
out, we could have sold maybe another 100 tickets!" ~ Fie Newsletter